Southwest Airlines updating reservation system

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines is spending big bucks to make sure its computer system doesn’t melt down again.

The Dallas-based airline will move its domestic reservation system to a new $500 million platform on Tuesday.

So far there have been no reports of issues and Southwest said that’s the plan. Passengers should not see a change in service, the airlines said.

“So far we don’t have any issues. I mean we’ll see how today goes, but so far a breeze. It looks like we have more of a concern of the lines and the security versus the check-in process,” said Mark Pierce, a passenger.

The move away from the 30-year-old system ranks as Southwest’s biggest technology update ever. It’s been in the works for a while and workers have been training and testing for months.

The upgrade is expected to make re-accommodating passengers easier during weather events. It also ends the practice of overbooking, allows Southwest to make changes on slower days and relaunch red eye flights.

Last July Southwest was forced to cancel around 2,000 flights after the aging system went down. Reports suggest it cost the airline between $54 and $82 million.